Haniger Helps Rainiers Walk Off

Tacoma salvaged the final game of the four-game series against first place Reno on Thursday night, picking up a 1-0 win in 11 innings.

The Rainiers won it when rehabilitating Mariners outfielder Mitch Haniger drew a bases-loaded walk to force in the only run of the game.

Now a walk-off-walk may not sound that exciting, but the way it happened was impressive.

Reno reliever Matt Stites was on the mound, and he had just struck out Mr. Clutch Zach Shank with the bases loaded for the first out of the inning.

Stites got ahead of Haniger very quickly, no balls and two strikes. That’s when Haniger went to work: he fouled off the close pitches, took some offspeed pitches down low, and eventually got to a full count.

On the 11th pitch of the at-bat, Haniger took Ball Four and the Rainiers had the win.

It was a plate appearance which highlighted Haniger’s skills in the batter’s box. We’ll probably have him for one more game today, and if all goes well I suspect the Mariners will activate him from the disabled list on Saturday.

RAINIERS ROUND-UP

Yesterday: The Rainiers pitched their ninth shutout of the year, holding Reno scoreless for 11 innings in a 1-0 win on Thursday night. Tacoma avoided being swept and pulled within four games of first place Reno.

Hot Rainiers: Leonys Martin has hit safely in 20 of his last 24 games… Tyler O’Neill has a six-game hitting streak… D.J. Peterson is 6-for-13 over his last three games, and he has reached base safely in 15 of his last 16 games.

Look Out For: Las Vegas has two 21-year-old prospects to watch this weekend. Shortstop Amed Rosario is rated as one of the top five prospects in all of minor league baseball, and he has reached base in 25 straight games coming into the series… first baseman Dominic Smith is the other 21-year-old, and he has a five-game hitting streak going 10-for-21 during it.

Local Guys and Ex-Rainiers: Las Vegas has one former Rainiers and Mariners pitcher: Blake Beavan, who pitched for Tacoma and Seattle from 2010 to 2014.

Broadcast: The pregame show starts at 6:50 on South Sound Sports 850 AM. The broadcast also streams online via the TuneIn app – just click here.

PCL Scoreboard: Follow all Pacific Coast League games in real-time with links to Gameday screens right here.

No surprise that Reno’s Ildemaro Vargas makes an appearance on this week’s edition of Baseball America’s Prospect Hot Sheet.

PCL Game Reports:

Las Vegas lost in the 11th inning at Salt Lake yesterday, 4-3. Rey Navarro had the game-winning RBI single. Salt Lake has had six walk-off wins this year and is taking charge in the Pacific-South division.

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